


Actions Have Consequences

by Moonrose91



Series: Competent Starscream [3]
Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Universe, Competent Starscream, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 10:31:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9436211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonrose91/pseuds/Moonrose91
Summary: Starscream knowsexactlywhat the consequences will be.But it is the fastest way to get what he wants.





	1. Hostage

* * *

Starscream frowned sharply as he stalked through the _Nemesis_.

He had assigned the Baby Trine, for all they hated the name it was accurate, to an ocean patrol, but it was the War Engineering Trine who had come in off of it, having traded with the Baby Trine.

 _They_ were now on a _true_ punishment detail, because they _traded with the Baby Trine_!

They were not of age, not even by _Autobot_ standards!

The Aerialbots were just as young as Dreadwing and Skyquake, but Starscream wasn’t seeing any replacement Creator hovering over them and making sure _they_ got off the battlefield. In the meantime, however, he was trying to _find_ the Baby Trine.

The War Engineering Trine wasn’t meant to go out on patrol today, so where _were_ \--

“Commander Starscream!” Dreadwing shouted and Starscream spun on his heel, only to see Skyquake at his heels.

“What happened? Report, now!” Starscream ordered, even as his eyes darted to where he expected Nacelle to come running.

Except Nacelle _wasn’t_ coming up behind them.

“We traded the Engineering Trine’s free space for our Ocean Patrol, so we could take over their future Ocean Patrol planned for this weekend, and then we traded that future Ocean Patrol for the Rainmakers’ Coast Patrol,” Dreadwing explained and Starscream felt his wings lift slightly.

“You _what_?” Starscream asked.

“We…traded for the Rainmakers’ Coast Patrol,” Dreadwing repeated sheepishly.

Starscream let out a low snarl. “What happened?” he demanded.

“Autobots, sir. They…they got Nacelle,” Skyquake explained. “He told us to come back, to tell you.”

Starscream twitched slightly and he gave a sharp nod. “Get. To. Your. Berth. Space. _Now_!” he ordered and they scrambled off.

He then turned and stormed out.

 _“Skywarp, Thundercracker, grab the Rainmakers and lock them down in the brig. A large cell space, no need to be cruel,”_ Starscream ordered as he moved.

 _“And if anyone asks, just ask Soundwave to confirm it,”_ he added as he continued to storm toward the exit.

 _“Starscream?”_ Skywarp asked.

 _“I’ll be back,”_ Starscream responded and he was then heading out of the _Nemesis_.

* * *

It took little time for Starscream to find the Autobot outpost, which is _why_ the Rainmakers had been _given the patrol_.

Usual mix. The Pit-Forsaken Twins, Jazz, Ironhide, Hound, and _ah_ , there was Bumblebee.

Starscream picked up speed and transformed as he began to drop. He moved quickly as he twisted, cutting it far too close as he grabbed Bumblebee. He engaged his thrusters and _hauled_ them up, shooting for the sky.

Sometime in that, Bumblebee seem to have realized who had a hold of him and began to struggle, likely to escape Starscream's grip.

He didn't have the best timing for that attempt. “I would really stop struggling. I doubt anyone would catch you before you fell,” Starscream remarked, loudly enough that he knew it could be heard as he climbed so that even the Pit-Forsaken Twins couldn’t reach them.

He glanced down and then pulled up a little more power into his thrusters to _fully_ get out of the Pit-forsaken Twins’ reach and watched as they looked up at him. “Now that I have your attention,” Starscream said in a drawling tone as Bumblebee stopped struggling.

He stared down at the collected Autobots and he sneered. “Now, you happen to have one of my seekers. I would like him _back_ ,” Starscream stated and took notice of the startelement.

“Oh, like you wouldn’t make a deal for your _precious_ Aerialbots,” Starscream snarled. “Besides, I want him back. He disobeyed a direct order. Now, hand him over or we’ll see if Bumblebee lives up to this rock’s counterpart.”

Starscream then shifted his weight and balanced so he could hold Bumblebee further away from him. “As the squishie expression goes, tick- _tock_ Autobots,” he growled out.

“Put him down you fragging slag-heap!” Ironhide shouted.

“Give me my _Seeker_ ,” Starscream snarled back as Bumblebee started to wiggle slightly.

“Don’t. My grip might _slip_ ,” Starscream threatened.

Bumblebee froze again as he stared down at the ground. “Autobots, I grow tired of holding your _precious_ little ‘Bot, so I _suggest_ you hand over my Seeker!” Starscream shouted.

The Pit Forsaken Twins looked ready to murder, along with Ironhide, but Jazz had moved.

Nacelle didn’t look worse for wear and Starscream waited. Nacelle was shaking and Starscream glared. “ _They_ back off. I am not descending into _Jet Judo_ range until they are gone,” he snarled.

“Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, leave,” Jazz ordered.

They protested, but went, and Starscream waited, patiently, until their _dust_ was far enough away. Only then did he start to power down his thrusters, slowly going into safe dropping range. “On the count of five, Autobot?” Starscream questioned as Bumblebee started to struggle again.

“Your count of five. And you drop Bee first,” Jazz said.

“Do I have your word as an _Autobot_ you’ll let my Seeker go?” Starscream demanded.

"You have my word. I'll let your Seeker go. Immediately," Jazz answered.

Starscream considered and then nodded. He counted and on five dropped Bumblebee, who transformed to take the force and zipped away, just as Nacelle was released and he transformed.

Starscream quickly activated his thrusters in the split second between Bumblebee hitting the ground and Ironhide charging, zipping into the air. “You _fragging_ slagged _tin head_!” Starscream snarled as Nacelle came close and transformed back into his bot form.

“I’m--”

“Shut. Up and _fly_ ,” Starscream ordered and Nacelle zipped off in front of him.

Starscream only paused long enough to fire at the Autobots before he took off after Nacelle.

* * *

“You _fragging slagged_ _tin heads_!” Starscream screeched, the Baby Trine flinching back.

“What were you thinking? I assign those patrols _for a fragging reason_ ! You fragged a _perfectly good mission_! There were vague reports of Autobots in the area, _thus_ the Rainmakers! I give you the patrols I do because I expect you to carry them out! I do not do this for my own sanity! If I wanted to be _sane_ I would _desert_!” he snarled and he slammed his hands on his desk to lean over it to glare at the Baby Trine.

“What in the name of Primus _possessed_ you to do something so _fragging idiotic?_ I swear, I thought I saw  _the Dinobots_ have a better thought process at the last battle!” he growled, ignoring the way it made his voice crack a little.

He was going to have to let Thundercracker take a look at his voice box.

Again.

“We can handle ourselves, Sir. And we wanted to prove it!” Dreadwing responded.

“Yes, and that worked out perfectly, didn’t it?” Starscream snapped and they quailed.

Starscream bit back a sigh and he felt his wings twitch. “There is a _reason_ I give you the _boring patrols_. And it is because I _know_ you will do them. It is _not_ for whatever slagging idiotic reason those tin-heads of the Aerial Corps say or, for Primus’ sake, the _Triple-Changers_. It is because I know you’ll _do it_. Primus frag it, the _ocean_ is our _third_ largest problem! It is dangerous _just to exit the Nemesis_ and get out there from the salinity content _alone_! That isn’t going into their _creatures_ that are larger than _Megatron_ and can _crush us like tin cans_! I pick _you three_ to do it because you _will_ and whine just a little less than the rest of them, and I trust you’ll _not_ get crushed like tin cans because you don’t think, ‘Oh, it is just a flesh creature, surely I can kill it!’ and then _we’re short another soldier_!” he snarled.

Dreadwing, Skyquake, and Nacelle looked torn between cowering and preening with pride.

 _Sparklings_.

“Now, you have _base cleaning duty_ for the next _month_! You’ll get _supervised_ patrols outside the _Nemesis_ once a week. Now get out of my sight! I have _other_ slaggers to deal with,” Starscream snarled.

“Yes, sir,” they intoned and walked out.

They all promptly made little noises and went, “Lord Megatron!”

Starscream’s head snapped up at that and he watched as the Baby Trine was dismissed and Megatron stepped into his office. “Megatron,” Starscream greeted quietly.

“I received an interesting report from Soundwave,” Megatron stated.

“Truly, Lord Megatron?” Starscream responded.

“You _bartered_ for Nacelle,” Megatron remarked as he walked around the desk, forcing Starscream to turn to face him.

“I did. With time, Dreadwing, Skyquake, and Nacelle will be Decepticon warriors worthy of the name, but they are young still. That _experience_ , however, will only come if they don’t _die_ first. I don’t regret it and I won’t regret it even if you rip my wings off for it,” Starscream answered.

“While it was a truly _Autobot_ action, how you did it was quite Decepticon in nature. I shall allow it to pass, this time. And deal with the Rainmakers. They’re throwing a fit worthy of an _Autobot_ down there,” Megatron answered and stepped away, heading for the office door.

He left without another word and Starscream sat down with a small tremble.

“ _Never_ barter your wings like that again,” Thundercracker growled as he stormed in and Starscream threw his hands in the air.

“Come right in, my office door is always open,” Starscream said flatly, ignoring the way his voice crackled.

Thundercracker gave a sharp snort, even as Skywarp jumped in, grabbed them both, and teleported them to their berth.


	2. A Sword in Hand

* * *

Starscream knew they would come after him with a vengeance.

After all, he _had_ threatened Bumblebee, and dropped the irritating little spy.

Nevermind he had done it for one who _actually_ needed protection.

Starscream had done his best to keep to the skies during that last few confrontations with the Autobots, skimming just within Jet Judo range to fire upon them, only to pull out just as the Pit-Forsaken Twins started up on their Fragging Jet Judo. He kept to out of Jet Judo height as much as possible, however, only dropping down upon command.

He enjoyed taunting but he wasn't _an idiot_.

Though, even _Seekers_ eventually had to land and when moving to fly out of there, get  in the way of Jet Judo _just_ as the Pit Forsaken Twins got in close enough range.

Starscream hit the ground, and he rolled with it, ignoring the way his wing ached. His right leg thruster was crushed, along with the gun on his right.

Ah, and part of his hand. Jet Judo at its _finest_.

He grunted as one of them, he couldn’t tell who, slammed into him and he rolled across the ground. Starscream twisted as they rolled, hoping to get to a better position to attack from, because these two could give any Decepticon a run for their money, except possibly Megatron, and he was already at a disadvantage.

On even ground, one-on-one, not so much. The Decepticons spent too much time mock-battling and somewhat jockeying for positions that they had seen everything at least once.

 _Both_ however?

There were too few twins willing to fight in tandem in mock battles, training in private.

Starscream was going to change that, once he got back to the _Nemesis_.

He twisted and kicked, slamming his feet into the chest, only to be _slammed_ into by the second. Starscream slammed back, head snapping forward to _slam_ into the nose of the Pit Forsaken Twin that was holding onto him. He used his working thruster to get himself away, ignoring the way energon was collecting around his wrist, getting some lopsided lift before he turned to kick the other twin sharply in the knee.

Unexpected, but it unfortunately kept his bad side to the first twin and his right arm was grabbed.

The twin twisted him around and Starscream went with the motion, ignoring how he was starting to panic, which fed back into his Trine mates, who brought confusion back.

They didn’t know, of course. The Pit Forsaken Twins hadn’t been on base and Starscream hadn’t told them.

Not all of it.

Only Megatron knew about the cell.

Starscream used the momentum to _slam_ his foot into the back of the twin’s head and he wrenched his arm free, ignoring the further damage he had done to it as he did so. He turned and then the second twin grabbed onto his right arm.

Hand on the upper arm, below his shoulder, and his lower arm, right below the elbow.

Starscream let out a snarl as his left hand flew up, grabbing at his right wingjoint, even though it gave him some limited vision, and he _pulled_.

He could feel his Trine mates’ instinctive flinch as the sword came out of his subspace pocket on his wing and he _slashed_ at the Pit Forsaken twin. He was released and Starscream leapt back, getting himself some space, though barely, sword in hand as he got away from the Twins.

Starscream breathed slowly, forcibly breathed slowly, as he shifted his weight so he could to take off with only one thruster, into the sky and he spun, keeping the sword out as he dropped toward the standing Twin.

He moved quickly, knowing he wasn’t against Sunstreaker since he wasn’t screaming about his paint job.

Starscream shifted and spun, taking off into the sky again, ignoring the way his left leg thruster was starting to overheat as Bumblebee went at his back and he stared down at the Autobots.

Distantly, Starscream wondered how many noticed the sword, saw where it had come out from and he did a flip as he landed back down to aid Soundwave, who rarely came out into fights like this one.

He moved quickly, the sword flashing out against Ironhide, driving him away from Soundwave. “I’m the one who threatened your precious little ‘Bot. You failed to hit me once. Care to try again?” Starscream taunted and it worked, Ironhide leaping at him.

Starscream worked on keeping out of the way, cutting into Ironhide whenever he was able until the call for retreat was made.

Skywarp appeared then and grabbed onto Starscream’s back before he warped away. They were in the air and Starscream was dropped, Thundercracker not hesitating to catch Starscream.

It was the largest show of weakness they would ever allow, and Starscream returned the sword to the subspace pocket as they took off.

* * *

“I was not…expecting that,” Thrust said with a small shudder.

The entirety of the Aerial Corps would now know of Starscream’s ace. Well, one of them. He had two, one for each wing, and Thundercracker was listening to the Corps _intently_ so he would stop thinking about it.

“What?” Nacelle questioned.

The Baby Trine hadn’t been allowed to go, Starscream citing that they, along with the Rainmakers, were backup.

Only a partial lie.

The Rainmakers were still in trouble for the Coast Patrol fiasco that lead to Nacelle being _briefly_ captured by the Autobots. The Baby Trine had been kept to the base, more or less, because Starscream could be overprotective.

He would never _admit it_ , but Starscream was _always_ overprotective. He worried constantly, and Thundercracker was _positive_ it was rooted in the loss of Skyfire.

Starscream had never really recovered after that, the first injury to his voice box coming from that. Ice getting trapped, melting, and then freezing again, cracking it.

Thundercracker tried to not think about it too much.

“Commander Starscream, he…he put a subspace pocket, in his right wing,” Dirge explained quietly and there was a shudder through the main Aerial Corps.

The Triple-Changers weren’t there, but they wouldn’t have the same reaction. They weren’t _true_ Seekers, or Fliers at all. They wouldn’t…understand.

The Baby Trine did a simultaneous shudder and Thundercracker watched. “That…why?” Skyquake asked as Nacelle began to rub at his right wing in sympathy.

“Because, he likely thought it necessary. Starscream is a paragon of what Decepticons should achieve; cunning, intelligent, and a capable fighter,” Bitstream stated and Thundercracker looked over at him.

“He’s also the first to drop down when we need aid. He knows he’s irreplaceable. The ‘Bots want him dead as much as they want Megatron dead. So he gave himself something they would never search him for. A sword in the wing is something no one with experience regarding Seekers would search for,” Hotlink continued.

“Good work though. Strong engineering background to put it, make it look natural. Want to shake that guy’s hand. Then punch him. He could have done irreparable damage to the wing, since I doubt another Seeker would have done it,” Sunstorm finished and Thundercracker twitched at that.

Good to have an engineer back up his and Skywarp’s work.

The Baby Trine looked distinctly uncomfortable and Thundercracker could hardly blame them.

“We weren’t overly happy when he got it either,” Thundercracker said.

“How do you _stand_ it?” Ion Storm asked.

“With gritted teeth,” Thundercracker answered honestly and felt the displacement as Skywarp appeared.

“Come along Cracker!” Skywarp giggled and there was a _tug_ as he was teleported to their shared berth.

He grunted as he landed and was carefully shoved toward where Starscream was in recharge. “I had to remove his voice box. We need…it needs parts. And a better medic. Something,” Skywarp said and Thundercracker nodded as he headed over, only to still when he saw Ravage pick up the voicebox.

“What the _frag_?” Thundercracker asked.

 _“You should be unconcerned Thundercracker. The voicebox will be returned when repaired as much as able,”_ Soundwave stated and Ravage jumped off, disappearing through a narrow hole at the base of the wall they had never fixed.

“We’re fixing that,” Skywarp said.

“Frag yes,” Thundercracker agreed, even as he retreated to relax on the berth with Starscream and Skywarp, knowing it would keep Starscream from panicking when woke up and he couldn’t speak.

**Author's Note:**

> Somewhat related sidenote; the reason I say G1 and not just "all media types" is due to the fact that....while it isn't flat-out G1, and an alternate universe of it, much of what I pull from is...G1.
> 
> And sometimes I go, "Nope," and just do what I want.


End file.
